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You'll remember that I came up with a pretty awesome idea for G's Christmas gift last year.
If you're new here and don't know what I'm talking about, then feel free to wander on over to this post to read all about it.
I'll wait.
Even though we spent all of 2016 traveling to new countries each month, we had so much fun I decided to extend this series indefinitely - so many cool places to learn about and we've even got a list of places we want to return to in the future!
This month, we headed to Brazil. I didn't want to visit it last summer because with the Olympics -- everywhere you turned was something about the country. Much as I love the Games, I didn't want our trip centered around that event.
August - Brazil
Set the Stage
I added this stamp to G's passport, then left it out where he'd find it the next morning before he went to work so he'd see where we were going:
What to Decorate With
What to Dress Like
I really think it's still somewhere at their house, so I just used that as my excuse instead of the fifteen bazillion boxes of books I'd have to move to get to the spot where it might be.
Since that perfect dress wasn't an option, I had no clue what we would all wear.
G channeled his inner Pelé and Gv wore a shimmery leotard along with the Carnival headdress that we'd crafted.
I was still coming up short -- all I could think of was to go the tour-group-at-Disney route (because there are always a bazillion Brazilian tour groups walking around that place, following the guide holding up the flag or an umbrella or something!), but when G rolled his eyes at that idea so hard they rolled across the floor, I knew that wouldn't cut it.
He said I needed to just find something that looked like a showgirl, so I dug through my closet to come up with the sparkliest thing I could find:
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| My attempt was so lame, but how cute are the other two? |
I think my brain has just burnt out of ideas for myself for these things...we'll see how I do for the last few...
What to Listen to
I created a playlist for this month based off of whatever related songs I already had on my ipod. I will go ahead and say you're welcome right now for getting these first two stuck in your head all day:The Girl from Ipanema
Copacabana
Samba
Bassa Nova
What to Eat
With the craziness of the new school year starting up, I wanted to keep things simple this month, food-wise.
I went with the super-easy national dish, feijoada, because I could just dump it all into the crock pot. We also ate some fresh pineapple from our yard and then I made some simple pão de queijo to go with it all.
G happened to have some Cachaça, which is Brazilian rum, so we added that to the menu.
I was surprised to learn that they eat avocado with sugar for dessert. I have a hard time using avocado for anything but guacamole, but I did manage to use a bit of it for some creme de abacate, just so we could see what it was like.
Our real dessert was brigadeiro, which was not in any way healthy, but absolutely delicious!
Feijoada
What You Need
2 cups soaked black beans
1 quart of water (I used chicken stock)
2 cups chopped onion
5 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 pound pork (I used bacon, but you could also use ham, or a combination)
2 crushed bay leaves
1 teaspoon coriander
salt & pepper
1 quart of water (I used chicken stock)
2 cups chopped onion
5 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 pound pork (I used bacon, but you could also use ham, or a combination)
2 crushed bay leaves
1 teaspoon coriander
salt & pepper
What You Do
1. Cook the onion and garlic in oil until softened. Add this to your slow cooker along with the soaked beans and water. Get this cooking for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
2. Cook up your pork and add it right away to the slow cooker, along with the spices.
Pão de queijo
What You Need
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour (although I didn't have any, so I just used coconut flour)
1/2 cup of this cheese (if you don't want to make it, you can just use feta)
What You Do
1. Throw all the ingredients into a blender or one of these and pulse until smooth, then pour into a greased mini-muffin pan.
2. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until puffy and golden brown.
1. Melt everything down in a pot, stirring about 10 minutes, until all lumps are gone and it's nice and thick.
2. Remove pot from heat and allow to cool just enough to handle, then roll into balls and stick in refrigerator until firm, at least an hour or so.
2. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until puffy and golden brown.
Creme de Abacate
What You Need
1 large avocado (the Florida kind, not the Haas kind)
1 Tablespoon lime juice
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon lime juice
2 Tablespoons sugar
What You Do
Brigadeiro
What You Need
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 Tablespoon butter
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tablespoon butter
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
What You Do
2. Remove pot from heat and allow to cool just enough to handle, then roll into balls and stick in refrigerator until firm, at least an hour or so.
What to Do
G and I had fun learning to dance the Samba with this video.
Gv and I worked on crafting this Carnival headdress:
Then she and I played several rounds of Cinco Marias, which is basically like jacks, but using stones -- although instead of stones (or jacks), we decided to use her "Bomgee Ball" collection (A bag of pencil grippers. We still don't have a clue where that name came from, but she's got a whole, elaborate way to play "Bomgee Ball" that keeps her entertained for hours!)
In case you're younger than my old self and didn't grow up playing jacks, first get yourself settled on the floor, facing your stones.
Throw one stone up into the air, then try to pick up another one and then catch the thrown stone before it hits the ground. Repeat this until you've gotten all the stones.
For round two, you do the same thing, but pick up 2 stones each time, then 3 for round three and the remaining 4 all at once for round four.
Gv and I worked on crafting this Carnival headdress:
Then she and I played several rounds of Cinco Marias, which is basically like jacks, but using stones -- although instead of stones (or jacks), we decided to use her "Bomgee Ball" collection (A bag of pencil grippers. We still don't have a clue where that name came from, but she's got a whole, elaborate way to play "Bomgee Ball" that keeps her entertained for hours!)
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| Bomgee ball goes airborne! |
In case you're younger than my old self and didn't grow up playing jacks, first get yourself settled on the floor, facing your stones.
Throw one stone up into the air, then try to pick up another one and then catch the thrown stone before it hits the ground. Repeat this until you've gotten all the stones.
For round two, you do the same thing, but pick up 2 stones each time, then 3 for round three and the remaining 4 all at once for round four.
 |
| I don't think she ever succeeded in grabbing a Bomgee ball before the thrown one fell, but it was great fun, regardless! |
What to Read
Gv and I read one of her favorite books, The Great Kapok Tree, then got Pele, King of Soccer and Brazil ABCs from the library.
The only book for the grown-ups I could think of was Robinson Crusoe, just because Brazil is where the ship was headed, if I'm remembering correctly.
What to Watch
For our family viewing, we watched Rio:
Then G and I checked out Trash, although G said we should watch Blame it on Rio, initially:
Then G and I checked out Trash, although G said we should watch Blame it on Rio, initially:
And that wrapped up our "trip." It was another huge success and we can't wait to jet off to someplace new next month!
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Love this idea, but want the easy, made-for-you-and-all-you-do-is-print-it version? Click here to get your own pack and see what inspired me to create this series!
Want more? Check out some of our other trips:
Italy - India - France - Africa - Ireland - Switzerland - Canada - Greece - England - Germany - Thailand - Russia - China - Spain - Jamaica - Egypt - Mexico - Japan
Love this idea, but want the easy, made-for-you-and-all-you-do-is-print-it version? Click here to get your own pack and see what inspired me to create this series!
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